Many of today's therapeutic pillows purport to assist in some health benefit during sleep. A common health problem that exists is pain and tension in the head, neck and shoulders. This problem may arise in an otherwise healthy person due to improper support of the head, neck and shoulders during sleeping. Some therapeutic pillows provide support to the neck and head regions. However, these pillows lack the ability to provide for sleep in various positions such as the supine, lateral, or prone positions.
Additionally, these pillows lack a resting place for positioning of the hand that complicates any movement during the sleep cycle. Hand and arm positioning is important during sleep, as it affects the shoulder region's position during sleep. Improper shoulder positioning may add additional stress to the cervix region causing further distress. The pain and tension caused by poor sleep positioning may cause further problems associated with difficulties in resting, such as insomnia, restlessness, light sleep, and snoring.
It is previously known that the optimal position of the human cervix or neck area is known as the neutral position. This position corresponds substantially to the most anatomically natural position of the cervical spine of a person who is standing upright with correct posture. In the neutral position, the lordotic curve or inward curvature of the cervical spine is maintained such that the lowest degree of stress is placed on the cervical vertebrae and surrounding connective and other tissues, and the minimum amount of neck and back pain are maintained. When the cervix is in a suboptimal position, there is a potential for the circulation of blood and nutrients through the neck to be restricted due to stressed connective tissue and vessels. Additionally, suboptimal neck position can lay stress on the nerves in the neck and head causing neurological instability of the vasomotor and muscular mechanical reflexes, among other neurological problems. Suboptimal neck position may also constrict breathing, which can cause or exacerbate snoring, sleep apnea, and other breathing related disorders that affect resting persons.
In addition, aroma therapy or the like would be beneficial during the sleep cycle for various breathing disorders. Therapeutic pillows known in the art lack the ability to support aroma therapy or other such therapies. These prior art pillows also are known for lacking the ability to interchange and replace various aroma therapies on the same pillow in a convenient manner. Positioning of the aroma therapy in relation to a user's nostrils and mouth is important to the overall effectiveness of the aroma therapy.
Known therapeutic pillows are not designed to support a person's hand and arm positioning, which is important in all sleeping positions. Some known pillows are designed to support therapeutically the user's head and neck in the supine, but not the lateral position. Other known pillows are intended to support therapeutically the user's head and neck in either the supine or a lateral position depending on the initial position selected by the user, but not to support changes in position during the sleep cycle. Those pillows that purport to give support in various sleep positions lack the necessary hand support vital to correct positioning during sleep.
Facial lines during sleep are also a constant problem for currently known therapeutic pillows. These facial lines can promote wrinkles and other unwanted facial defects. Even with resilient material, known therapeutic pillows can promote such facial lines as the face of a user is placed against the pillow.
Thus, there still remains in the art a need for a therapeutic pillow device that provides a hand rest to support proper cervical spine and head positioning in various positions during sleep, and provides for the use of aroma therapy or the like during the sleep cycle. There is also a need in the art for a therapeutic pillow that reduces facial lines due to sleep on the pillow.